Bar Hill Fort

History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation

Bar Hill is the highest fort on the Antonine Wall, at 495 feet above sea level, and the site offers excellent views of the Kelvin Valley below. Within the fort are the foundations of a granary, barracks, water tank, street layout, bathhouse and fort headquarters.

In the courtyard of the headquarters building is an impressive well, 43 feet deep and 4 feet square, lined with carved stones all the way down. This well yielded a great number of archaeological finds, including wooden comb, sandals, shoes, and arrowheads. A short distance to the east is an Iron Age fort.

The most significant discovery at Bar Hill was a small 2nd-century altar to Silvanus, which is thought to have stood at a shrine just outside the fort. This altar, standing 3 feet high, is now stored at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.

The altar bears an inscription in Latin which translates as "Erected to the God Silvanus by Caristanius Iustianus, praefect of the first cohort of Hamii, in willing payment of a vow."

Nearby accommodation is calculated 'as the crow flies' from Bar Hill Fort. 'Nearest' may involve a long drive up and down glens or, if you are near the coast, may include a ferry ride! Please check the property map to make sure the location is right for you.

Macbeth murders Duncan, King of Scots, and takes the throne. The event was later sensationalised in the play by Shakespeare as a truly dreadful deed, but in truth a lot of rulers were murdered in those turbulent times!